Evan Lawson and his fellow SEAL/wolves came upon the parking lot to the picnic area near the stretch of state forest along the Interstate.
Their sensitive noses said that although a car had recently arrived, no one was currently near, but they had not survived all those years in hostile environments on just scent alone. There were ways even an educated were's nose could be fooled, for they had used such methods themselves, even against normal opponents.
Approaching cautiously from different directions, they searched every inch of ground for booby traps and hidden foes as they neared the suspect vehicle.
Signaling for more detailed recon, one man crawled across the ground on his belly, until he could look underneath the car and declare it trap free.
"No one's here Beta," Derek told Evan, using his title as (temporary) pack leader since their Alpha was elsewhere. The only difference his presence on this mission would have made was for the Alpha to take the lead while their strength was up a man/wolf. "Orders?"
"Provided we can do so safely without exposing ourselves, let's break in and search the car for intel," said Evan.
Soon the four doors of the Ford were wide open as Peter and Derek started sniffing and searching the interior.
Meanwhile, Evan and McNally discovered the rest of Jeremiah Bower, Senior's arsenal in the trunk.
"If all this is still here, they must be on foot and heavily armed," observed McNally.
"Yeah, and cross country, my house is only a fifteen mile hike from here!" growled Evan, worried about his wife and daughter. "That's no problem for even an older were like Bower, depending upon how loaded down he is."
"Sir," said Peter Russo, carrying a piece of paper carefully via the use of a pair of tweezers. "Something you should see," he added, holding up a map.
Evan looked at the map, a sneer crossing his muzzle as he related the information to the others. "Okay, here we are," he said, using the point of his combat knife to show their location without touching the map himself. "My house is here," he added, tracing a diagonal line up toward the tweezers in the left hand corner. "And this red X here near the body of water that Moon Lake is named after, has to be some kind of extraction point for our enemy. Probably someone in a boat to take them to the other side and give them a head start on anyone pursuing them over land, unless Bower has a friend high enough to own a small, water capable landing plane or a pontoon equipped helicopter. The lake's less than a twenty mile hike from my backyard."
"Evan," said Derek, approaching his friend and leader. "Two scents in the car. A were-rottweiler, presumably Bower, Senior; and an unidentified werebear. There's enough of a scent on that map to indicate a third were's involved, but too faint for me to tell you what or who right now."
"Understood. Now then, first off. If anyone needs extra ammo, help yourselves," said Evan Lawson, as he grabbed a spare clip for his assault rifle and a couple of hand grenades, which he put in a pouch around his furry hip. "McNally, you stay here long enough to put the car back the way it was, but make sure to disable the engine so they can't use it on the off chance they have to come back here and don't think we know about it yet."
"Roger. Should I booby trap the trunk too?" he asked.
"Tempting," growled Evan, "but we might need the evidence and don't want to needlessly endanger anyone. Just disable the trunk's opening mechanism so they don't have immediate access to it."
"Understood," replied McNally.
"Then contact base, bring them up to date and have them relay the info to the locals, especially about that possible rendezvous point. The Town Chancellor, Samantha Twist, is probably on duty waiting to either help or hear this is all over. When your done, catch up with us as quick as you can. The rest of us are going hunting," growled Evan, his eyes glowing feral before taking off after Bower and whoever was with them; as the rest of the wolf/SEAL team followed.